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Research Resources

Funding Sources, Grantsmanship, and Core Resources

The SPH supports investigators who are engaged across the spectrum of laboratory –based studies involving molecular biology and genomics, clinical research with human participants, and community-based participatory research. They are supported by funding from federal sources, foundations, the state, as well as from the University. The SPH works closely with the staff in the Division of Research at UMD to provide essential support for identifying sources of funding, submitting research proposals, and locating core resources.

SPINPlus provides a modern full-text search that is run against over 40,000 federal agency and private foundation funding records. Results are returned to the user in relevancy ranked format, and can be further sorted, grouped, or filtered by the results grid column headers.

Most campus computers will have an IP address that allows you to access SPIN without a login, but for use off campus and for the more advanced features that include setting up an individual funding profile to save searches and receive regular funding alerts, you'll need to create your own login/password.

Fill out the New Profile Registration Page - select the department listed

Click Submit

You will now be at a page called the Profile Summary Page - do not fill anything out on this page. Scroll to the bottom and click Log Out

Your Administrator will now receive an e-mail and they will need to validate your profile. Once validated you will then be able to sign into SPIN for added functionality and remote access

Foundation Center provides access to over 120,000 private foundations and corporate donors. To obtain the UMD login and password, please contact the Grants Development Coordinator at x 54698.

A note about pursuing foundation funding: When a faculty member has identified a potential funder and wishes to make contact, it is necessary to first determine whether the funder in question has been assigned to a campus unit. Please contact the Grants Development Coordinator (x54698) to obtain all necessary guidance on making initial contacts.

Tapping into Individual Sources of Funding for Research, Training, and Entrepreneurship

Almost all of the funding agencies provide useful guidance for researchers interested in submitting proposals; investigators can register with the agencies to receive routine funding announcements.

The federal government has developed Grants.gov as a central resource for government grant funding opportunities and submissions (http://grants.gov/).

Each of the federal agencies has information and guidance related to its particular programs. Some of the agencies that fund SPH faculty include:

SEED GRANT PROGRAMS

There are various university-based seed grant programs designed to support pilot projects and analyses to prepare faculty to submit larger extramural grants.

Examples of these programs include:

University of Maryland (College Park and Baltimore campuses) Research and Innovation Grant Program. This program is usually announced in the winter and requires partnered investigators from each campus. At College Park, this program is administered by the Division of Research.

Faculty Incentive Research Development Awards Administered by the Division of Research at UMD

Investigators can apply for seed funding as an individual faculty member conducting research or as an interdisciplinary team (TIER I); as faculty who are developing a major program initiative for federal funding (TIER 2), or as a campus wide effort to develop broad, multidisciplinary research efforts in a particular domain (TIER 3). Approval to apply is given by the SPH Associate Dean for Research prior to application, since a contribution from the School of Public Health is part of the funding formula. (www.research.umd.edu/development/faculty-incentive)

Overview of Training and Career Development Mechanisms. This provides an overview of NIH Training and career development mechanisms and opportunities for post docs, fellows, and mid career investigators. Several of these mechanisms are also used by other DHHS agencies, such as CDC and AHRQ. (www.grants.nih.gov/training/kwizard)

FUNDING FOR INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The University of Maryland encourages innovation and entrepreneurship; more than 50 university resources, services, contests are listed on the Innovation website (http://innovation.umd.edu/)

Students and faculty who are interested in submitting a disclosure or patent application should work with the Office of Technology Commercialization (www.otc.umd.edu). The University of Maryland College Park and at the University of Maryland Baltimore are harmonizing their efforts in entrepreneurship through UM Ventures (www.umventures.org) which is an initiative that coordinates training, courses and integrated services in technology commercialization.

UM Ventures provides personalized assistance from individuals on campus known as site miners, who can work with investigators in developing their intellectual property for further funding through an initiative known as the Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII), which is overseen by the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO, www.tedco.md.)

Grantsmanship: Preparing and Submitting Research Proposals

Preparing Research Proposals

Guidance on Grantsmanship. In addition to School and University seminars and workshops, there are multiple resources that provide general guidance for grantsmanship. A site from NIH provides an overview that is useful for other grant applications as well: Grant application basics: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/grant_basics.htm

Research Administration Support provided by the SPH and the Office of Administration (ORA) in the UMD Division of Research. The SPH research administration staff in the Office of the Dean provide support for faculty and student researchers, ensuring that the proposals comply with university and funding agency policies and requirements before submission to ORA, which is the Office that provides pre-award and post award management at the University level. The administrative staff in the SPH are the main point of contact between the SPH and ORA,. Support for post-award management in the SPH is provided by each Department. The staff of ORA also provide training and updates on university and funding agency research policies and procedures. (http://umresearch.umd.edu/ORAA)

Complying with Regulatory Requirements in Research

The Research Compliance Office in the Division of Research has a portal that provides access to many of the sites listed below (www.umresearch.umd.edu/RCO/)

Investigators who are planning to conduct clinical research (research involving interaction with human participants) are required to first take online CITI (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative) training. This must be done before the initial application, or renewal application, can be fully approved. (www.umresearch.umd.edu/IRB/citi.html).

The National Science Foundation requires all undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who are funded by NSF to receive training in the Responsible Conduct of Research (available through the CITI training program or workshops offered by the Division of Research).

Currently the university also recommends this training for those who are not currently required to complete this course.

All investigators also are required to complete Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) training and submit a FCOI Disclosure for any proposal submitted to a Public Health Service agency, even if there is no FCOI present. (http://umresearch.umd.edu/IRB/RCOfcoi.html )

Finding Core Research Resources

Core Resources and Centers at the University of Maryland

The posting of all Centers and Institutes as well as laboratories and core facilities on the campus, such as those for genomics and mass spectrometry, can be found at the following URL: www.research.umd.edu/capabilities

Overview of the Laboratory and Research Facilities in the SPH

The laboratory facilities in the School of Public Health support a broad range of research activities, which range from genomics and molecular biology, to research involving human participants (clinical research). The laboratory facility descriptions and services are organized according to the following areas: